This year’s Xbox Games Showcase revealed a lot of new and exciting games, but what stood out the most from the event was the announcement of an Xbox handheld device, in collaboration with Asus ROG Ally.
The handheld device, officially called the ROG Xbox Ally, aims to bring the best of both Windows and video games to a single place. In a market where handheld devices are dominated by Nintendo, Xbox has faith that this device will be a breakthrough in handhelds because of the synergy involved.
The Xbox Ally promotes collaboration between the Windows and Gaming teams at Microsoft
Xbox joins the handheld market with ROG Xbox Ally! | Image Credit: Xbox
CEO of Xbox, Phil Spencer, has said that the newly-revealed ROG Xbox Ally constitutes the closest relationship between the Windows team at Microsoft and its gaming division in his three decades of working with the company.
In a recent episode of the official Xbox podcast, Spencer expanded on the fact that this is their tightest collaboration yet and how the Windows team and the gaming division have been operating as a single development unit to achieve the handheld system that they envisioned.
This is the tightest collaboration I’ve seen between the gaming organization and the Windows team in my three decades at the company. It’s really amazing to see the teams focusing on opportunities to make the experience better, and working really as one development team to realize that.
This synergy has led to them creating a handheld device that’s an open platform, which means you can use whatever storefront and applications you want, and integrate that with the video gaming experience that you get on Xbox consoles.
There’s some uniqueness then when you’re supporting an open platform but you want it to work as appliance-like, as a game console, and I think that’s where these two teams coming together can really create something great together.
Spencer further explained that the 25 years of experience in making video game consoles is a benefit that will give the users of ROG Xbox Ally “the freedom of Windows to use the storefronts and applications that you want to use but it feels like a device that’s purpose built.”
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The challenge in creating a device that feels like the best version of Xbox and Windows in the palm of your hands is what made the collaboration between the Windows team and the gaming division at Microsoft so tightly knit.
Spencer mentioned that to distinguish the ROG Xbox Ally from other handhelds and Windows devices in the market, there’s work being done “under the hood” to address performance, interruptions, battery life and other things that stand out.
This strategy gives Microsoft a massive advantage with Xbox over Sony’s PlayStation
After over thirty decades of impressive consoles and video games, there’s a major device that Sony still lacks in the modern age: a gaming handheld that runs native PlayStation titles. Their last good handheld, the PSP, launched over twenty years ago.
The PlayStation Portal, even though it’s a handheld, comes nowhere close to the original PSP, as it’s mainly a device for streaming games via Remote Play. This is where Microsoft has the advantage with the Xbox handheld devices.
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The ROG Xbox Ally is a handheld device that can natively run Xbox titles while also having all the benefits of a Windows PC, such as using any storefront or applications you want and simultaneously get the video gaming experience. Even though there were rumours of a new PlayStation handheld in development, Sony still severely lacks in this department.
This is the best way forward for both Microsoft and Xbox, as the handheld they’re making stands out from the crowd of handhelds currently on the market. So, what do you think of the ROG Xbox Ally? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comment section below.
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